BAFTA TV Awards To Be Held Virtually On July 31; Richard Ayoade To Host

Peter White
·3 min read

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The British Academy Television Awards is to take place on July 31 with The IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade set as host.

The BAFTA TV Awards were set to take place on May 17 but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They will be followed by the British Academy Television Craft Awards on July 17.

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BAFTA TV will air as-live on BBC One, while the Craft Awards will be streamed via social media. In accordance with current restrictions, both events will take place as closed studio, socially-distanced shows, with nominees invited to accept their awards virtually.

Nominations for both awards will be announced on June 4.

Ayoade, who also hosted factual series Travel Man, will present for the first time while Episodes star Stephen Mangan will return to host the Craft Awards for the ninth time.

Ayoade said, “I am as surprised as you are that this is still going ahead.”

Mangan added, “I’m absolutely delighted to be hosting the BAFTA Craft Awards again – handing out our industry’s highest accolades to the people who make this country’s television world-leading. The format might have to change a little this year but nothing will stop me putting on black tie and celebrating their success.”

Amanda Berry, Chief Executive at BAFTA, said, “We are delighted to confirm the new dates and formats for both the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and the British Academy Television Craft Awards this year. We want to celebrate and reward the talented individuals who make up the television industry, both behind and in-front of the camera, many of whom have continued to entertain and inform the nation in recent weeks. I am thrilled that Richard Ayoade will be hosting the Television Awards for the first time, with Stephen Mangan joining us for a ninth time to host the Television Craft Awards, with them at the helm both events are set to be great entertainment. Following the success of the online British Academy Games Awards in March, we are proud to be delivering a further two Awards shows during this difficult time.”

The British Academy Television Awards 2020 will be produced by BAFTA Productions and Done and Dusted for BBC One. It was commissioned by Katie Taylor, commissioning editor for entertainment at the BBC, and is executive produced by Clare Brown, director of production at BAFTA and Lisa Clark for Done and Dusted.

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